Wings and Tail
by Lottie Black
Summary: Harry Potter still hasn't defeated Voldemort. When Dumbledore called for him, he expected something to do with the war but instead he was appointed to guard Draco Malfoy who was hexed for revenge. Or at leas that's what Dumbledore told them.
1. The protector

**Disclaimer: **I'm the queen of the world, so everything is MINE!!!! evil laughter. Not really. I'm just a humen. The boys are J.K. Rowling's, and I don't get any profit from it, so please don't sue!

**A\N:** was beta-ed by the wonderful auroranq , livingiseasy and spae. They really did a brilliant jub on it, so for the remaining mistakes, I'm the one that needed to be stoned. Thank you for listening.

**- Chapter one – the protector -**

Harry really didn't know why he was summoned to the headmaster's office. It wasn't so unusual for Harry to get a message by owl, it was just that he hadn't done anything lately. Well, maybe Dumbledore just wanted to chat? At least, Harry hoped that's all he wanted from him.

He was in his last year at school. Even if he hadn't won against Voldemort yet, he knew the last battle was fast approaching; the losses on both sides were already great. He didn't want to start wandering around doing secret missions. He was okay with a lot of intensive training, but he didn't like doing secret stuff, it was really, just stretching out the war; in the end he'd have to fight Voldemort face to face anyway.

Whatever it was Dumbledore wanted, Harry wasn't going to run to him. He was on his way, at his own slow pace. It took him about fifteen minutes to reach Dumbledore's office, and now he stood in front of the door. Just as he raised his hand to knock, he heard the headmaster's voice telling him to come in, so he rolled his eyes and opened the door.

He wasn't expecting anything really, but seeing Draco Malfoy sitting on a chair in front of the headmaster's table, with his legs drawn to his chest and his body trembling a little, honestly surprised Harry.

The old headmaster smiled his bright happy smile at him; the one that made his eyes twinkle like precious stones. The one Harry never could leave unreciprocated; he always smiled back to that smile of Dumbledore's.

"Come in and take a seat, Harry. Care for a lemon drop?"

Harry refused politely as he sat down. Was there really anyone besides Dumbledore who even liked those lemon drops?

"No? And you, Draco?"

Apparently there was someone, because Draco said a small "Thank you, sir" and put one in his mouth. His eyes fell shut and an expression of pure bliss became evident on his face. It passed quickly, but it left Harry open-mouthed with wonder and the old man in front of them looked very pleased. Whether it was because of Draco's bliss or Harry's wonder wasn't clear, but the old man's pleasure left Draco with a shy look on his face, making his cheeks a little bit flushed and his face and eyes downcast. Harry had never thought that he'd ever think of Draco Malfoy as **cute**, but contrary to his beliefs, cute was the word that passed through his head just then.

Harry cleared his throat, trying to clear his head with a slight shake. Unfortunately for Harry he didn't realise that this would cause the other two present to look up at him. When they did he couldn't help blushing faintly. He was so desperate to make them look at something else, or just to distract them, that he asked, "What did you need me for, headmaster?" As the words left his mouth, he wondered if maybe his words were too rude for talking to your headmaster. The old headmaster didn't seem to mind though, because he smiled at him and clasped his hands in front of him on his desk.

"Oh yes. Well, let's start with the reason why the both of you are here." He stopped for a second to glance at Draco and then at Harry, and went on. "Earlier today, someone hexed Mr. Malfoy. We don't know who it was, or if the hex was just a joke or some sort of revenge. If it was for revenge, we don't know if it was something personal or... perhaps... something that has to do with Voldemort.-" Dumbledore stopped. A small shriek had escaped Draco before he clasped a hand to his mouth. The shriek made Harry look at him with astonishment, the Malfoy he knew for over six years would never have done something like that! Especially because of someone saying the Dark Lord's name, what with his father being a Death Eater and all. Yet he was positive that that was what he had just heard! Draco Malfoy, **The** Draco Malfoy, had just screamed at Voldemorts name!

As Harry looked at him, Draco looked a little embarrassed, but it was partly concealed by his frightened expression. Just as he was about to look back at Dumbledore, he noticed the tears on Malfoys lower lashes. For a moment he didn't know what to do, he just stared. But as Draco started to cry, something in him screamed for him to do _anything_ just so he would **stop**. That voice started to screech in his ears as he saw Dumbledore kneel in front of Draco and try to comfort him. It was so insistent that it forced him to his feet and between Draco and Dumbledore. Still standing, he wrapped his arms around Draco and pressed the boy's head into his abdomen. One of his hands was stroking circles on his back and the other one was stroking his hair. It seemed to calm the crying boy in his arms. It seemed natural to start purring. He began quietly as if he wasn't certain it would help, and then louder as he felt Draco's shoulders relax a bit more. He didn't care that the headmaster was just behind him or that it wasn't normal to purr like this. Since when was _he_ normal anyway?

Dumbledore wasn't bothered with the purring teen, though. He had other things on his mind which involved the two teens in front of him. He had a look on his face that stated, explicitly, that he knew something they didn't, and what's more, it had just been proven that he was right, again. The older man was so pre-occupied with his thoughts that he barely heard the boys in his office talk to each other.

"What is it, Draco? What happened?" Harry asked Draco, who still had his head pressed to Harry's stomach. Harry didn't seem to notice the way his voice was low or that he was still purring. He didn't notice the way he spoke to Draco, addressing him by his first name and not as **Malfoy**. The-Boy-Who-Lived was too busy caring for the weeping boy.

"V... Vol... The Dark Lord is mean. Mean people are scary. They want to hurt Draco. Draco don't want to be hurt." While he was talking, Draco removed his head from Harry's abdomen and looked up into the emerald green eyes of his comforter. Draco was pouting. He was so cute like that, with his lips full of attitude and his grey eyes (actually they were more blue then grey but Harry had a suspicion that that was only because he was showing emotions that weren't hate or arrogance) were opened widely, making him look very young and vulnerable. At the sight of him, Harry's heart tightened and the only thing he wanted to do was hug Draco until he suffocated from it. Yet Harry knew that that particular course of action wouldn't stop the boy's fear of the Dark Lord, and he also knew that he had to help Draco overcome his fear.

"The mean man is very old, tired and weak. I'm younger and stronger than him, I'll keep you safe and out of his reach, don't worry. It will be fine. You don't have to fear him anymore, I'll always be there to protect you from him, I promise. Alright?" As Harry said the words "I promise" a soft white light wound around them like a silken ribbon. The light ribbon illuminated them for a few seconds, yet only Dumbledore saw it. The two youths were too busy smiling at each other and nodding, in Draco's case.

Dumbledore let them have one more minute before he cleared his throat, breaking the spell around the two. A new determination was in his eyes, but Harry and Draco were too occupied with feeling embarrassed, that their headmaster had witnessed everything between them, to pay attention and didn't notice it.

As Harry let Draco go and they both straightened their robes, old Dumbledore walked back to his armchair behind the desk. If in the beginning of this meeting he hadn't been one hundred percent sure that he was doing the right thing, now he had no doubt in his mind. And so, with that joyful thought and a smile on his lips, Dumbledore started to explain everything.

"You see," he said to them when they all sat down in their seats. "In the middle of the summer, young Mr. Malfoy sent me a letter asking to join us. Who am I to deny someone the chance to redeem themselves? Of course, I agreed and asked if he would like to come and end the summer vacation here at Hogwarts. He agreed to come in a week's time. Alas, the news about a Death Eater's son coming to the light side didn't stay quiet for long.

"It wouldn't be so bad if not for this hex. It's a very rarely known hex. It's purpose is to make the victim vulnerable. It makes him very obedient and passive." (Which, to Harry, explains the way Draco had been acting) "The victim of this hex can't lie or hide his feelings. It basically make them return to their six year's old self. At first sight it looks like a hex children would use against each other, but in reality, dark wizards use it far more often. It's very functional for those that need a willing enemy for dark rituals, as it makes the victim agree to every single thing said to him, even if it is killing him.

"So, we really cannot know for what purpose this one was cast." Dumbledore stopped his long speech to measure the two young boys' reactions. It seemed to him that it was going well. "Well, this is where you come in, Harry, my dear boy. Because there's a chance that Voldemort is behind this, and we need someone to protect Mr. Malfoy. As it is, the probabilities are high, that Dark lord or no, that it was cast by someone inside Hogwarts. So the one protecting Mr. Malfoy needs to be with him constantly. And I think that you are the more suitable one for the role. What do you say?"

**- TBC -**

**A\N-2:** I really hope you liked it.  
If you did, Please review me. If you didn't, Please review me. If you don't have an opinion, please review me. In other words please review my no matter what. Lol. Thank you. Oh, and just so you'll know, I have the second chapter almost finished . And I won't abandon it if I have someone reading it. So if you read this and wont to read the continuation of it, this is one more reason for you to review me. Please.


	2. Rooms

**A\N:** So. here's the second Chapter. it was beta-ed by my lovely beta auroranq, So all the other mistakes are mine alone! I have another two betas, but they a bit busy right now, so I decided to post this as it is and just update it when they'll send it to me. Hope you'll enjoy it 

**Disclaimer:** I'm the queen of the world, so everything is MINE!!! evil laughter. Not really. I'm just a humen. The boys are J.K. Rowling's, and I don't have any profit from it, so please don't sue! 

_this text is thoughts_

**_- Chapter Two – Rooms -_**

"What do you say?" Dumbledore was so calm. He was talking as if it was normal to ask two rivals to protect each other. And not just any two rivals, but the two worst rivals in all the school. He was talking as if he was putting two boy's from different houses in the same room on a daily basis. Two rivals that hated each other more then anyone else in the school, from the two houses that hated each other the most, in the same room. What was he thinking!? Was the world coming to an end? 

His shocked expression affect Dumbledore in the slightest, so Harry turned to Draco, he found the boy looking at him with...hope and happiness, as if his greatest wish was just granted. He knew that there was something wrong with him, because he found this boy, that was supposed to be Draco Malfoy, to be charming, even adorable! Draco's gray-blue eye's where incredibly wide, his mouth hung open a little bit and his cheeks were a bit pink. How someone was suppose to say 'no' when something so cute looked at you **like that**? It was impossible, and so Harry ended up saying 'yes' without even looking at the headmaster, and he was glad he didn't looked at him because if he had, he would have missed the total happiness and delight that replaced the hope on Draco's face. 

"Thank you, my dear boy," said the old headmaster. Even if he had asked Harry if he would do it, he had no doubt in his mind that should Draco be there in his current state, it wouldn't take long for him to agree. "I can asked the house elves to pack and move your things, if you wish. Yet I believe it is still necessary for you to return to you're houses and tell your friends the news. We don't wont them to worry, now do we? I think that until lunch will be enough time for both of you to pack and talk to your friends?" he waited for two nods from the young boys in his office before continuing. "Very well. I will send the house elves for your trunks before lunch time and I'll see you in front of the great hall's doors afterwards. Is that alright with you boys?" 

"Of course, sir." Harry answered while Draco just nodded, His face still very joyful. When Dumbledore smiled and nodded in return, both of them stood and turned towards the door. At the last moment, Harry stopped and turned to Dumbledore again. "Um, sir?" he was a little hesitant but at Dumbledore's encouraging nod he continue anyway, "well, what about the war?" he didn't look at the other boy, but knew that Draco was probable looking at him. 

The headmasters eyes started twinkling stronger, and the only replay he gave was "When **everyone** is prepared, the battles well begin. Until then, everyone needs to find their own hidden strengths. Good day." It was clearly a dismissal, so Harry nodded and left. At the door stood Draco, waiting for him while watching the old Professor with a thoughtful expression. 

At the foot of the stairs Harry turned to Draco to say 'I'll see you later' but before he could really say something, Draco send him a bright beautiful smile. And before Harry could smile back, Draco approached him and kissed him on the cheek, saying a quick "thank you" before he ran off to his common room. Harry was stunned, for a few minutes he stood without moving and just stared at the corner Draco had disappeared around not long ago. But then a very small smile appeared on his lips and with a shake of his head he started back to Gryffindor. 

As he ran to his common room, several students looked at him as if he'd fallen from the moon. It really was highly unusual for a Slytherin to run, especially for Draco Malfoy, The Slytherin Ice Prince. But he didn't care, he'd been feeling light-headed since the moment his lips touched Harry's skin. He didn't understand that feeling, but it felt so right that his mind didn't question it. Instead, he ran all the way from the stairs to his room. He entered with a bright, broad smile gracing his face. 

He past the common room without stopping, leaving every one in it to stare after him with open mouths, someone even gasped loudly, but he didn't pay any attention to it, he just rushed to his room. As he entered it, he started to pack with out stooping to breath. He was everywhere in the small room, his trunk was lying open and half full as Draco continue to bring more and more of his stuff in to it. When there really wasn't anymore space in the trunk, he stopped for a moment. For a second he was trying to think why it was already full as it was the only one he brought from home, and it was suppose to be able to contain all of it! Then he remembered. It was able to contain all of his stuff in the beginning of the year due to the shrinking spell he put on all his stuff then, but forget this time. 

As Pansy and Blaise came in to his room, it was almost empty already, and Draco was like a little hurricane speeding around the room which he circled while he packed. The thing that finally stopped him was Pansy's sharp inhalation, that was loud enough for all the house to hear. When Draco turned to them, his smile just widened and he ran to his only friends and hugged them, leaving them in a severe state of shock. 

"I have so much to tell you! So much had happened at the last couple of hours! You won't believe it!" Draco was eager and looked so young and carefree that for a moment Blaise and Pansy didn't know who this was, and where the real Draco Malfoy was hiding. "What happened?" asked Pansy cautiously. Blaise just nodded briefly, as if he was afraid of the answer they would get. As Draco began to speak again, he started to pack as well. 

"I was just in the headmasters office! With Harry Potter! And I'm going to live in the same room with him..." Draco was talking rapidly, but was cut off at that moment by a shocked Pansy screaming. 

"You're going to live in the lions den from now on and you're happy?!" Blaise didn't scream like Pansy did, but it was evident from his voice that if not for his shock, he would have. Blaise's comment and Pansy's scream made Draco stop packing and turn to his friends. 

"What? Who said anything about the lions den? I'm not welcome there, and would never be! No, Dumbledore give me and Harry a private room." For a moment there, his best friends thought that the Draco Malfoy was back. If not for that last sentence. 

For quite some time now Draco had been, occasionally, acting strange. Sometimes he would be nice to someone he didn't know as good as he knew his house, the Hufflepuff for instance. Or he would defend Harry Potter to and from the Slytherins! The same Harry Potter he loathed for six years, the Harry Potter that made his life as miserable as Draco would make his. The Harry Potter that was The Boy-Who-Lived, the future savior of the wizarding world, the soon to be hero. **That** Harry Potter. 

But usually, Draco would come out of that quickly enough and would make everybody believe it was one more of his sarcastic jokes. And yet, there they were, in one of Draco's strange modes and he was suppose to snap out of it sometime ago, but he didn't. This time his was acting like his six year old self, a Draco that was highly adorable even to them, his best friends, the ones, maybe even the only ones, that weren't attracted to him. _Well, maybe it will go away soon, and then we will have our best friend back_, they both thought at the same time and with a sigh, they left the excited blond alone. 

As Draco was running toward his common room, Harry was walking toward his. It's not that nobody waited for him, it was just that he had things to think about. Things he wouldn't be able to think about with all the racket in the Gryffindor's common room. And with Hermione nagging him to study or do his homework. 

_'When **everyone** is prepared, the battles well begin. Until then, everyone needs to find their own hidden strengths'_ That's what Dumbledore had said, but what did he mean? The way Harry knew his headmaster, the old man probably knew what Harry's so called **'strenghts'** were, but would not tell him until the very end. Or until he found out on his own, whatever came first. It also probably has something to do with this guarding Malfoy thing, but what? It was all driving him crazy. 

And anyway, why did he agreed to do it in the first place? Yeah, Draco was under a spell, he could see that as clearly as he could see the floor he walks on, with his glasses on, of course. But why agree to it? Anyone could have moved in with the blond Slytherin... Harry didn't continue that line of thought because it made he stomach clamp painfully, for some reason. But he didn't dwell on the thought 'cause it made him uncomfortable too, so he returned to his first thought, the reason he agreed to guard Draco Malfoy. 

Before he could start reasoning with himself, he was at the fat lady's portrait. He said the password, 'Reauko', and entered his common room, a room that was always lighthearted and tumultuous even in these times of war. Many of the Gryffindors wondered about the password this year, it was very strange, and no one had heard about it before, not even Hermione! It was actually very amusing for a few days. 

When on the first day of school in the common room some first year student asked what 'Reauko' meant, everyone turned to Hermione. There was no one in school who didn't know she'd read all the boos in the library already, and if you need to know some thing, you ask her. And yet, she didn't know what it was. For almost a week she searched through all the school, until she finally found it. Though, no one really listened when she started to tell everyone what 'Reauko' was. Every single one of them stopped listening after the first sentence...' Reauko is a type of magical being...' 

When Harry entered the Gryffindors common room, it was full with first and second year students. There were several students from other years, but the majority of them were in the library at this time on a Saturday. His room was empty and in utter disorder. There was shirts and socks all over the floor. Books and parchment where scattered on the unmade beds and desks. Harry sighed and made his way to his side of the room. Taking out his trunk from under the bed and placing it on top, he started to pack. He didn't have many things with him, but it took time to find everything in the mess they called a dorm room. Though he knew that if he was trying harder, he would have made it in less time. 

Now that he was alone with his thoughts, he was trying to find the reason he'd agreed to move in with Malfoy. He told himself that it was only because he pitied the blond Slytherin. But if he was honest with himself, he knew deep down that there was some other reason. It was as if he was pushed forward by an invisible force. Something or someone that stood behind him and whispered in his ear to do it, and if he protests, it will shove him in anyway. 

But Harry didn't believe in invisible forces dictating his future. So if anyone questioned his decision he would say that it was the same thing that made any Gryffindor jump head first into trouble, and that any other Gryffindor would have done the same thing. 

Ron and Hermione found him very slowly packing. 

"What are you doing, mate?" asked Ron, startling Harry out of his brooding. He turned to them so fast that he almost fell. 

"Oh. It's you two." Harry give a sigh of relief. "Well. I'm packing." At that statement he received two raised eyebrows from his best friends. "Maybe you should sit down." 

"Harry..." Hermione started to say, but he interrupted here before she could go on. 

"Please sit down and I'll explain." they just nodded and sat on the nearest bed, in this case Dean's. "Well, while you guys were in the library, I got an owl from Dumbledore asking me to come to his office. When I got there, Malfoy was there as well. In brief, Malfoy was hexed and was acting like a six year old child. Dumbledore thinks it has something to deal with Voldemort -" At the growing anger on Ron's face and the bewilder on Hermione's, Harry sped through his explanation, not thinking. "- so he asked my to guard him, I'll have to move in with him." 

"What? You're going to live with the ferret in the snakes pit of your own free will?!" was Ron's response to Harry's words. 

"No! Dumbledore gave us a separate room. And I doing this only because Dumbledore said it was probably caused by Voldemort!" at Ron's angry retort, Harry's response was very defensive and he raised his voice to almost a shout. "He said that it was a hex used by Dark wizards in dark rituals or something." 

"If he knows so much about this hex, why didn't he just remove it?" Ron was now on his feet shouting at Harry. He was just about to say some thing else when Hermione's hand on his arm stopped him. 

"I think I read about it once. It's making you all vulnerable and passive, right?" she asked Harry and he nodded in return. "There is no reversal spell for it, Ron, the only way to end it is to let it fade with time. And in the time it takes it to fade, Malfoy need someone to help him, because the hex makes him do **everything** said to him. It's almost like Imperio" While Hermione was explaining that, her face took on a thoughtful expression. 

At her explanation, Ron's anger faded and he sat back on the bed next to Hermione. After a few seconds of silence, Harry returned to his packing. 

**TBC**

**A\N:** well, that done. I really hope you liked it. Sorry It took my some time to post, RL is a bitch. A big one. the third Chapter as soon as I'll mange, promise please comment 


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